JANUARY 2008 | ARTICLE |
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OBEDIENCE TO GOD AND JOY OF OBEDIENCE |
It is the will of God that we obey His teachings. As a Christian we can do many things for the Church. We can give our money to the Church. We can spend our time for the Church. We are doing all these, as we love God. We may do many sacrifices, as we love God. In the Book of Samuel Lord speak us through His Prophet that to obey God is better than sacrifice. Lord says to His people; "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” What for God look at man: “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." [Isaiah 66:1-2]
When Lord Jesus met Saul in Damascus and said to him, "Saul, Saul, why you persecutes me?” Saul asked Him, "Who are you Lord". Saul trembled and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." At the very same time Saul accepted Jesus he embraced a new life of obedience. It is this same experience of obedience, St. Paul describe to Titus, "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." [Titus 3:3] But the kindness of our Lord delivered us from this bondage to His obedience. We received a rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit who provides us generously. When we put our trust in Lord, we are given with everything we need to live an obedient and holy life. All the resources needed for life and Godliness is provided to us. The word of God keeps us sacred. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." [Psalms 119:11] The word of God sanctifies us. Jesus said to His Father in His prayer, 'Sanctify them through thy truth as thy word is truth.' [St. John 17:17] We are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. All the words of God demand us to obey Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus Christ well qualifies the Law of commandments. The Law taught us Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot. But Jesus taught us not to resist evil: but whosoever shall smite you on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. He taught us to love our enemies. We are called to obey Jesus all in His teachings. Through the obedience we receive joy and in our joy we obey Him.
What makes us to obey God? I would like share with you what for I obey Jesus. When I did not know Jesus, I tried to lead a good life. I did whatever I thought good and avoided what ever I thought wrong. But my living with goodness was for fear of punishments from God. I feared God would punish me if I do evil. So tried always to be a good person to avoid punishment from God. But when came to know about Jesus and accepted Him in my heart, the fear had gone away from my mind. As Jesus had taken over all our punishment by His sacrifice on the cross I became relieved of the fear of punishment. Now I feel the joy of obedience in Christ and through the words in the Bible. God spoke through prophet Jeremiah and Jeremiah wrote:
'They shall be My people, and I will be their God; I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.' [Jeremiah 32:38-41] It is God Who inspires us to fear Him. This fear is not an unhealthy fear but it is a divine feeling for correction.
I share with you and enumerate below why I am motivated now to obey Lord.
Eventually, I love and obey God in response to all His above providences to me. When my son was small, people used to give him presents on his birthday celebration. Some people gave him costly presents. After the celebration is over he used to give everybody return presents. This may be a very small inexpensive thing like a pencil rubber or a chocolate. When I try to obey God I took it like this as a return gift for God' abundant love to give His Son for us. So my obedience and holy life is only a return token. St. Paul say about it as an 'in-describable’ or ‘unspeakable’ gift. So the motivation of obedience is joy and it is not a burden. This does not mean that I am able obey God completely or I am able to lead a holy life. But I never like to continue in my sin. When I realize my sin, I repent and try to reject it. It is my wish that I should live a holy life in His obedience.
When I accepted Jesus Christ in my heart, I was in Germany and my wife Ragini was in Bangalore. Very shortly my wife fell sick for mental illness. My wife did not know that time I had accepted Jesus Christ. My relatives admitted her in the hospital and started shock treatment. I rushed back to India. By that time my wife lost consciousness. Doctors instructed me to take her back home. I took her to Germany with me. Some time she was Ok and some time she fell ill again. But Lord spoke me through the Verse 1 Peter 10:5; "In his kindness God called you to his eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ. After you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation." His promise was after 'a little while'. I believed Him, and I did not ask God when this 'little while'? It is the God who promised me and I believed Him blindly.
The words of prophet Balaam to King Balak "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" [Numbers 23:19] strengthened me. God not only speaks He acts also. When God acts who can reverse it? God promised that He would heal my wife. As per His promise my wife was cured fully by God. He completely healed her and made her whole. One-day man is like thousand days of Lord and thousand days of man are like one day for God. Do you know how long was this 'little while' of God, it was fifteen years. All these fifteen years we were not suffering, we were under training, at different stages of training, basic training, advanced training and severe training. By now, my wife work as a counselor for the mentally sick people. She is not much trained in this field, but the burden about the people who suffer from mental derailment make her to do this job. Our Lord is great and amazing.
There is abundant joy in obeying Lord. How God make us to obey Him? God said; "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." [Ezekiel 36:27] The Holy Spirit in us move us to obey Lord. We should be crave for the word of God and Spirit of God. The spirit of God is our counsellor to lead us in our walks.
James Chapter 1 talks about the conception of evil and delivery of sin. "Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." [St. James 1:13-15] Duration between the biological conception and delivery is 11 months. But there is no duration defined for the conception of desire and delivery of sin, it can be moments or years together. The only abortion God permits is the abortion of evil before it delivers sin. Evil thoughts should be aborted at its conception. Psalm 90:8 is a prayer by which we seek counsel of God before delivery of sin. 'You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.'
Our obedience to God not mere a joy restricted to our self. It is a rejoice in the whole world and heaven. Jesus told that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
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[Message delivered at Maramon Convention 2007] |
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